Starting out, first truck

Besides that.

The fiberglass breaks. The supports are gone. You got a big hole inside the hood. And left with the firewall and radiator and wipers to keep it from falling as it cracks apart.

 

I think you’re going to be around $3k per month after you put $8k down. You’ll only be able to haul exempt commodities or intrastate while waiting for your MC to go active which is roughly a month after you bind your insurance.

 

You should buy my 2013 Western Star glider. 12.7 a Detroit rebuilt last year, maybe 30k on it. Needs tires and the paint is getting rough on the sleeper roof. $45k

 

I got into an ‘89 W900B and a ‘93W900L for less than $40k. Of course they didn’t look quite like this when I bought them. Be patient. Sometimes the money you save, is the only money you make.

 

Done with driving a truck. Only way up/forward is to hire someone or owner operator. Don't want to be responsible for someone else's livelihood in a business where the income generating assets all depreciate, drivers will leave for 5k more somewhere else, customers maybe 50%+ of them are driven by price, new equipment you're looking at the price of a house, insurance say 1500-2000 per power unit, all the while chock full of liability and lawyers waiting to sue your whole bloodline for when their client rear ended your driver. Not to mention the endless rules, regulation, taxes, and general bs the lawmakers can find no limit on what's coming up next. New round of emissions 2027 I believe and requiring to have longer service life from the manufacturer. That translates to your now 40 or 50,000 cummins will now be perhaps 60 or 70,000.

I have done well, I'm at a point in my life I need a change. I'm young enough to have another career, I am seriously considering diesel mechanic, I know I'd be good at it and the business man inside me still says I could have my own shop someday. Live near the highway, shop out back with parking for perhaps 20 trucks. Go to work out the door walk to the shed there you go. What other "professional" industry can you say to who you need to do a job, electrician, plumber, mechanic, welder, etc. "I know I paid you $1.00 yesterday but today I want you to do the same job for 0.75, simply because that guy over there says he will do it for 0.75. Kapisch?" That guy will get back in his small work van and leave. That business the overhead is what a sprinter or 3/4 ton pickup and your tools? Some materials? Which will generate you probably the same 250-300k a year at least. You use the vehicle as a tool, the vehicle is not THE tool. You exist 50-100 miles from the house and you go home to your woman and kid every night. You go to their little league. You go to their hockey games. You get to watch them grow up. I've done everything I want to from the aspect of driving and owning trucks, I don't regret any of my career choices thus far, but I also know I don't want to be 40 (5 short years away) still griping about it never having made the changes I must to live the life I want. It wasn't long ago people would say you look too young to be driving that (had a w9/6nz at 21) that feels like last week. 14 years later I'm overweight, my health isn't the best, I've made money and for what. Hey everybody look at my cool truck! It is a cool truck. No show truck by any means, but it's perfect for me. I love show trucks, but also realize I don't have the motivation to have one of my own. Mad respect for those that have them and operate them. Every angle I look at it, I come back to the same conclusion, I would tell anyone they are nuts to get in right now, and I am just done with it. Time for someone else to take over and enjoy going down the road making their own decisions in a pretty neat looking truck I'll even help them on the business side for a while if it's a new guy transitioning into being completely independent. I am going to replace my core income with something else, something more thinking/physical and still earn good money, and use the extra after my living expenses to explore other businesses. Perhaps real estate. NON-DEPRECIATING INCOME GENERATING ASSETS. I am in a financial position to surf the couch for several years if needed, while working towards my next chapter in life.

I have an opportunity to get out now and basicly extract a fair selling price for my equipment and be done with it. All this nonsense about there not being enough truck drivers or the average is 57 is all crap. If I get told oh my God those people are going to starve if you don't do this anymore then I suggest one of them goes and gets their food for themselves.

Oh yeah I'm being audited as well. Throw that on top for good measure.

That should about sum it up. Any other questions?